CONOR POPEfeels a little guilty staying in luxurious hotels in an area where thousands of pilgrims flock to complete the gruelling Camino de Santiago. But somebody's got to do it
SIPPING A COLD beer in the warm sun outside the five-star Parador dos Reis Católicos, next to Santiago de Compostela’s imposing cathedral, I start to feel a little guilty. Some decidedly dusty folk who’ve just completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage are standing beside me, leaning on staffs, clearly shattered after walking their feet to stumps for the glory of God.
The only walking I’ve done has taken me from the airport arrivals hall to the bus that whisked me into the city in less than 15 minutes. It’s like taking a helicopter to the top of Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday and sipping champagne as the bloodied barefoot trundle past.
They are making me feel like a dilettante – unintentionally, I hope – so I finish the beer quickly and go into the parador, which is housed in a building commissioned by the Spanish monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand in 1499 as a resting place for pilgrims. It claims to be the world’s oldest hotel, and it certainly looks it, with its foreboding exterior and internal gloom. And its strange fascination with haemorrhoids. Several of the granite gargoyles protruding from the facades of the four courtyards around which the hotel is built have their heads between their legs, examining their piles – a common cause of complaint for people who completed the pilgrimage on horseback, by all accounts.
Piles apart, this hotel has been beautifully restored, and it’s worth popping your head around the door for a look even if your budget doesn’t stretch to staying here – a double room has a full price of €275 a night, although discounted deals are frequently to be found.
This is a city that resonates with religious fervour, old and new, and you can hardly turn a corner in the old town without happening upon a cold granite monastery, church or convent, but it is the cathedral, believed by many to be the final resting place of St James the Apostle, that is the big draw – and has been for centuries. Dante called Santiago the world’s one true site of pilgrimage.
After a visit to the crypt, the faithful pray before St James’s imposing statue on the baroque altar at the centre of the church. They conclude their visit by passing a pillar at the end of the church that, after walking at least 100km or cycling or riding at least 200km, they must touch, tradition says, to complete their pilgrimage. The rules have changed of late, however, and the pillar is now cordoned off because of damage the laying on of hands was doing to the stonework.
While religion is what made Santiago, it is not weighed down with holiness. It is, in fact, a delightful, welcoming place, with the buzzing, youthful vibe provided by the city’s students, who make up nearly a quarter of the population. It is one of the few Spanish cities where complimentary tapas must be served with drinks, and scores of tiny bars that dot the old town offer tasty morsels of stunningly fresh seafood and spicy green peppers, with glasses of local Albariño wine for €1 a throw.
The old town’s main street, Rúa do Vilar, has a stone portico designed to keep residents dry – it rains a lot in Galicia. Many of the doors sit under carvings that indicate the profession of the person who built the house. Some go a little further and identify whether the person residing within was the legitimate or illegitimate offspring of a wealthy individual.
Just off the central square is Rúa do Franco, named after the French nation rather than the Galician generalissimo, our tour guide is at pains to explain. It is narrow and winding and hosts what sounds like a dangerous pub crawl. At one end of the street is a bar by the name of Paris; at the other is Dakar. The challenge is to have a drink in both and all 38 others in between in a single day.
Instead of bar hopping we decide to go on a parador crawl through the province, a decidedly more upmarket, leisurely and grown-up way to do things. The fabled paradors were conceived during the reign of Franco, who ordered 100 of the country’s most historic buildings, frequently in stunning locations, to be reclaimed by the state and turned into hotels.
Sixty kilometres southwest of Santiago, at the heart of the wine-producing region of Rias Baixas, is the city of Pontevedra. In times past it was the most important port in Galicia; its dockyard built one of the three ships Columbus brought across the Atlantic (the one that sank, incidentally). It lost its position of pre-eminence to nearby Vigo in the 19th century, but the town, with its buzzing nightlife and medieval charm, is worth a stopover if you’re travelling south towards Portugal.
While Parador Casa del Baron is somewhat underwhelming, tucked away on a backstreet on the outskirts of the medieval town centre, the rooms are comfortable and the food in its restaurant very good indeed, although you’d want to be partial to octopus to get full value from the menu.
Not far from Pontevedra is Cambarro, an odd little town famous for its seafront granaries, which were built on stilts to keep rats and rain at bay. They have a higgledy-piggledy charm, as do the narrow streets of the old town, which are home to dozens of little bars and tourist shops that have been carved out of the stone.
From Cambarro we head inland to Parador de Santo Estevo, a recently converted monastery built 500m up a mountain near the city of Ourense. Reached via a long and very winding vertiginous ascent, the parador marries the modern with the ancient surprisingly sympathetically. One can only wonder what the Benedictine monks who lived out their medieval days in this remote spot would make of the glass walls, flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, jet pools, steam rooms, jacuzzis and world-class restaurant now housed in their quarters.
Santo Estevo, which sits in the Ribera Sacra valley, is just one of at least eight full-scale monasteries in the area. Hundreds of hermitages also dot the sides of the spectacular wooded gorge that flanks the majestic Río Sil. The views of the river from a number of well-signposted miradores, or viewing posts, are breathtaking.
At the southern tip of Galicia, on the Spanish-Portuguese border, are pre-Roman fortified hills known as castros, which attract a huge number of tourists. Not far away is another holy site, known as the Way of Santa Tecla. The hill leading up the peak is dotted with Celtic crosses, and although the ascent is part of another pilgrimage it appears to be as holy as a brothel. On the hilltop are a pub and eight stalls flogging tourist tack: castanets, T-shirts, ugly pottery and dozens of witches that cackle when the stallholders clap their hands. It is a distinctly unholy cacophony that most right-minded people will flee from.
Chances are you won’t want to flee from the seaside town of Baiona. It is a gorgeous resort popular with the wealthy folk of nearby Vigo. At weekends it attracts clubbers from around the bay. Its seafood restaurants are legendary, and you will struggle to get a bad or expensive meal anywhere.
Food and nightlife aside, one of the best things there is the parador, in a converted fort on the fringes of the town. The location is stunning, the rooms are big and, if you’re lucky enough to be given one facing the seafront, you can fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing against the shore less than 100m from your window and dream of a return to one of the least explored but most magical parts of Spain.
Conor Pope was a guest of the Spanish tourism office, spaininfo.com
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
Where to stay
Parador Hostal dos Reis Católicos. Santiago de Compostela, 00-34-981- 582200, parador.es. A beautiful hotel, dripping with history, at the heart of the old city. It is expensive but worth splashing out on for a chance to spend a night or two in what claims to be the world’s oldest hotel.
Parador de Santo Estevo. Ribas de Sil, 00-34-988-010110, parador.es. A gem of a place. This sixth-century Benedictine monastery is the ultimate boutique hotel, in a stunning setting. The restaurant, with its vaulted ceilings, is excellent.
Parador de Baiona Castelo de Monterreal. Baiona, 00-34-902-303555, parador.es. This competes with Parador de Santo Estevo as our favourite in the region. The location, looking over the Monterreal peninsula, is incredible.
Where to eat
O Dezaseis. 16 Rua de San Pedro, Santiago de Compostela, 00-34-981-564880, dezaseis.com. A contemporary restaurant, housed in a 300-year-old stable, that serves amazing pork, peppers and pulpo (octopus).
Casa Marcelo. 1 Rua Hortas, Santiago de Compostela, 00-34-981-558580. If you’re up for a bit of a splurge you won’t go far wrong with this restaurant, near the cathedral. The set menu costs about €60, but that’s for seven courses.
La Tacita de Juan. 31 Horreo, Santiago de Compostela, 00-34-981- 563255, latacita.com. Classic Galician cuisine. The octopus empanada – imagine a filo-covered slab of meaty flesh and you’re halfway there – is worth ordering, as are all the Galician crepes.
El Gato Negro. Rua da Raina, Santiago de Compostela, 00-34-981-583105. This is not a place for fine dining, but it might be one of the most pleasant tapas experiences you will get in northern Spain.
Where to go
Lanzada Beach. A stunning beach that Galicians are justifiably proud of. The gleaming white sands form a two and a half kilometre arc around the bay. Popular with scuba-divers and surfers.
Monastery de Santa Cristina. Parada de Sil, paradadesil.com. You can barely throw a stick in the Ribas de Sil valley without it landing in a monastery. This one has hollowed-out chestnut trees that are said to cure rickets, and people leave gifts for God at another holy tree nearby. Fantastic views.
Finisterre. The name of Spain’s westernmost point means Land’s End. You can reach it from Corunna by travelling along the Coast of Death – so named because of the countless ships that have foundered along the coast.
Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies to Santiago from Dublin. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies to Santander from Dublin.